Gallo Pinto

The “Painted Rooster” or painted some other shorter word that means rooster, That reminds me of this guy I know who got his…ear tattooed , was sort of cool. This is the national dish of Costa Rica, and Nicaragua, possibly Panama however they call it rice and beans. (Sorry if I left anyone out). Each Country claims that it was originally their idea and that the other two are just thieving prats that are no more fit to walk on G@ds green earth than a reciprocating tapeworm. My first introduction to this was about eight years ago when I just happened to be in Costa Rica and Panama. I was surprised at the frequency that this dish seemed to have on the average menu, breakfast, lunch, dinner, afternoon snack, three o’clock in the morning after the disco has closed and you need something filling and carb’y to keep the booze down. Escabeche followed by gallo pinto, fried plantains with gallo pinto, sautéed shrimp with gallo pinto, chorizo and gallo pinto, gallo pinto and gallo pinto, gallo pinto with a gallo pinto sauce! Ernest and Julio Gallo Pinto! Ok, it gets a little sickening after a while. There was some relief on the caribbian coast of Panama where I was able to experience the wonders of gallo pinto with coconut milk. Well, after a number of years I can finally eat Gallo Pinto again without waking up in the middle of the night and screaming; “Please somebody give me a potato!”

Ingredients:
1 Can of black beans (Undrained)
1 Cup of rice
1 ½ - 2 cups of stock
1 Onion chopped
¼ cup of cilantro chopped
4 Tbs of vegetable oil
1 Tsp cumin (Optional)

Method:
Heat rice in the stock till boiling, then turn heat to low cover the pan and cook for 15-20 minutes or till tender. Combine the rice and the beans set aside. Heat half the oil in a large skillet and add the onion cook until onion is transparent but not brown about 5 minutes, add the cilantro and cook 2 more minutes. Carefully combine the onion mixture with the rice and beans so as not to break up the grains or the beans. Heat the remaining oil in a clean skillet, turn the gallo pinto into the hot oil and fry for a couple of minutes until warmed through. Serve with anything and everything, though you might like to serve it with some fried plantains or some sautéed chorizo sausage and onions. Serves Four

For the Panamanian version use kidney beans or other red beans instead of black beans cook the rice in one cup of coconut milk and one half cup of water instead of the stock, add a garlic clove or six chopped, when sautéing the onion and leave out the cilantro, or don’t. I happen to like cilantro a lot so, I tend to use it as much as possible.

Fried Plantains:

Select 3 large Plantains that are not too ripe, they should be firm. Peel and cut on a bias to create chips about 1/4 inch thick. Heat enough peanut or vegetable oil in a heavy bottomed pan to shallow fry (About 1/3-1/2 cup) when hot enough to brown a cube of bread in thirty seconds add plantains, fry till brown turning once during cooking. Remove with a slotted spoon and drain on paper towels, pat dry with another paper towel and sprinkle with salt and a little lime juice if desired, serve immediately or they get soggy and icky. Serves 4-6